


Snow and Storm

by Drea_is_Dreaming



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, Doyoung is tired of your shit, Drama, Historical, Hyuck is the best best friend, KunTen are KunTen, M/M, Mark Lee & Lee Taeyong Are Siblings, Mark is baby and overworked, Real to Reel to Real life, Soulmates, Yuta and Taeyong are best friends, but its in the past, prince taeyong, tragic past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23173684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drea_is_Dreaming/pseuds/Drea_is_Dreaming
Summary: "Why think separately of this life than the next, when one is born from the last?Time is always too short for those who need it,But for those who love,It lasts forever..."There was once a Prince, as beautiful and sombre as snow.And there was a warrior, who moved like a storm.This is the story of their love, beyond lifetimes.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	Snow and Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I have three WIPs and yet here I am with a new story. I was reading a webtoon when this idea struck me. So here we are. I've been writing this between midnight and 2 a.m. for three nights now. I am sleep-deprived and frustrated with myself. So please be kind to poor old me and do leave your thoughts at the end.
> 
> Credit to the beautiful Shalu, for sharing the quote used in the summary.

The signs were there before the man himself walked in. Doyoung’s plan to peacefully work on his thesis in the Library was about to flop. Big time.

A trio of giggling Sophmore girls settled at a table next to his, stealing glances at the entrance. One boy suddenly materialised in front of his table, trying to look like he was busy looking through the collections of poetry from Joseon era. There were seldom any students to be found in his quiet corner, so the sudden onslaught of about half a dozen undergrads in what Doyoung considered his personal space definitely made him antsy.

A couple of minutes later all the excited whisper and frantic turning of pages came to a stunned stop. A very manly gasp was heard, the girls on his left sighed collectively. Two people behind him pretending to browse slammed into each other. The boy returning the books on the shelves dropped a particularly heavy one on his own foot. Doyoung finally gave up on trying to read and looked up.

And in walked Jung Jaehyun, in all his bronze haired, broad-shouldered, dimpled glory. The sunlight made his hair shine and gave a glow to his silhouette, it looked like a scene out of some campus romance. At that moment Doyoung could see why people called him intimidating. It was more than just his good looks. Though he did look ridiculously stunning for someone wearing a loose black tee and ripped jeans. It was about the way he walked, without care, as if the crowd would part for him, people in his way would move to let him through, which they did. It was about the way he commanded attention, made people turn and take notice.

The historian in Doyoung couldn’t help but compare his entrance to that of a General, who could make his troops stand straighter without giving out any orders, command them with his mere presence. Just like how the boy holding the book of ancient poetry stopped slouching and stood taller, the girls who were previously half sprawled across the table now sat like Victorian ladies at high tea.

All of which was completely out of context, obviously. Jaehyun is not a warrior, he’s just a boy. Well, the ‘It Boy’ of present-day Korea, the youngest actor to win a Daesang. The idol of the young and modern Seoul men. Doyoung just had a habit of reimagining everyday scenarios in the eras long gone. Well sue him, he loved the rich history of his country. Keenly studied the culture of the kingdom of Joseon. Admired and critiqued Kings and Princes. Scrutinized the military tactics and the policies made centuries ago. All those things left an unerasable impact on the nation that South Korea is today.

A snap of fingers in front of his face brought Doyoung out of his thoughts.

“Earth to Hyung. Helloooo…” Jaehyun crooned, waving his hands in front of Doyoung’s face. Doyoung brushed his hands aside with a scrunched up face making the younger chuckle.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have a shoot?”

“Hyung! The shoot for that movie wrapped up last week. I told you this when I told you that I need your help and you told me to swing by the library when I called you like three days ago?” Jaehyun prompted him like a kindergarten teacher prompts a toddler to recite the Alphabet.

Doyoung raised his eyebrows as the conversation came back to him, “Uh… yeah, yeah I remember that.”

“You take your work too seriously professor Kim.” Jaehyun shook his head like a disapproving ahjumma. “You always forget about poor dongsaengs who need your help.”

“How many times have I told you to not call me that! I’m not a professor yet and wouldn’t be one any time soon if you keep disturbing me while I work.” Doyoung said while hitting Jaehyun’s head with a notepad.

“Ouch!” Jaehyun gave an exaggerated squeak. “This is assault”, got up from the chair and started walking backwards, “My lawyer will be in contact with you soon.” while pointing an accusing finger at Doyoung. Then turned to look at the wide-eyed boy standing with the collection of poetry held upside down and winked. He fucking winked and the poor boy choked on air.

“Right now I’m craving some tteokbokki.” he announced while walking away, knowing full well that Doyoung had shut down his computer and started packing up his stuff the moment he saw Jaehyun. His Hyung, for all his aloofness, did care for him.

~•~•~•~•~

“So let me get this straight. You want me to be your nanny and tell you bedtime stores of Kings and Queens?” Doyoung asked bewildered.

The two were sitting in one of their favourite hangouts. ‘Ten Dumplings’ which was run but their friend Ten and his boyfriend. The detour was made because Doyoung Hyung insisted that since he’s the one who’s going to pay then they’ll eat something he felt like. Which at the moment was soup dumplings.

“No Hyung…” Jaehyun sighed exasperatedly. For all his academic achievements -pursuing a Doctorate at Sungkyunkwan University was no mean feat- this hyung could be really dense sometimes.

“I said that do you know about a poem called 'Snow and Storm’? And can you tell me what it is about?” Jaehyun skipped repeating the sequence of events that led to this request.

If Doyoung hyung did not pay attention to his narration the first time around he’s not going to care about it even if Jaehyun tells him again how his manager told him that the agency was considering a drama for him to sign next. And the only information Jaehyun was given officially was that it was a historical. Cause apparently, the actor’s opinion on what work he wants to take up doesn’t actually matter. Even if the said actor just won a Daesang for his first lead role in a drama.

It was his friend Mark, who was also in talks to direct the drama, who gave him the name of the poem which inspired the story. Mark, bless his soul, was considerate enough to let him know even this much, all the while warning him that the project was still in its initial stages of development and even the script wasn’t finalised yet and that any leak will cost a lot of people their jobs.

So Jaehyun had come to the most trustworthy person in his life. Luckily that person was also a scholar of all things obscure and Jaehyun was confident that if Doyoung hyung didn’t already know about this poem, he’s the most capable of finding out about it.

“Jaehyun, you do realise that I’m not a literature expert, right?”

"I know hyung, it’s not a recent poem, Mark told me it was written in the early Joseon Era, which is your area of expertise, isn’t it?"Jaehyun proded.

“It is… But I don’t think I’ve come across any famous work by that name.” Doyoung tilted his head, speaking more to himself than the man sitting in front.

“Maybe you just forgot about it, its probably all romance. It has to be a renowned poem if there’s a drama being planned by Netflix.” Jaehyun reasoned.

“Hmm… You’re right, it must’ve slipped my mind. I’ll look it up and let you know, tomorrow? Would that be okay?” Doyoung said after considering his words for a moment.

“Cool. I knew I could count on you hyung.” Jaehyun said with a wide, relieved smile.

“You can always count on me, brat.” came the reply with a hand to ruffle his hair.

~•~•~•~•~

“Dinner’s ready!” Taeyong shouted from the kitchen, turning the stove off.

Donghyuck came in, dragging a very tired Mark with him.

“Budaejjigae!” he exclaimed while Mark started to help Taeyong in setting the table.

“Taeyong hyung” Donghyuck started in a sing-song voice, “I was just coming to tell you that Mark asked me to stay for dinner tonight.” he finished with a faux shy, but dazzling smile.

“I don’t remember asking that?” a confused and sleepy Marked piped in.

Donghyuck spluttered.

“Then you should’ve Markie, it’s late and dinner's ready, poor Hyuck would have to cook something himself when he gets home. Forget about him Hyuck, I’m asking you, please sit with us for dinner.” Taeyong saved his poor brother from an indignant Donghyuck’s fiery clap back by putting a bowl full of hot stew in front of him.

Which seemed to placate Donghyuck who thanked him another bright smile and quickly sat down to eat. Mark, eyes barely open, did not respond and just started to eat as well. Taeyong knew that Mark wasn’t being rude by not asking Hyuck to stay for dinner. Dinners were a special meal in the Lee household.

Working in the entertainment industry, the siblings had little time to spare.

Mark, the prodigy had directed his first documentary in high school, went to university in Canada and juggles work between his indie movies in the US and some more commercial projects in Korea.

Taeyong, hot-shot rapper on his way to international stardom spent half his time working on music in Seoul and half promoting in the US. Though the two lived in the same house wether in Seoul or in LA, it was still difficult to align their schedules.

So Taeyong had made a rule. Both of them would always have dinner together, as much as they could. No work talk or non-Lee(s) at the table. Mark had missed dates and Taeyong had skipped parties to comply with this rule. It was their time, so the presence of another person, no matter how much of a dear friend might’ve seemed like an intrusion. More so to the ever so sensitive Mark.

Taeyong ruffled Mark’s hair, overcome by sudden affection. His stupid little brother was ready to offend his best friend for him. Silly boy. Mark probably thought that Hyuck’s incessant chatter will tire him out after a long day and all the prep for dinner. His baby brother was too good for this world.

“You are working too hard for this project Mark. This isn’t your first time working for Netflix, so what’s the hassle? Take it easy kiddo.”

Mark stopped eating for a moment like he was about to start a heartfelt rant, then just hummed in response.

Taeyong looked at Hyuck, raising his eyebrows in question. “Are you guys having trouble with the script again?”

Hyuck just sighed loudly, then said.

“Mark and Yuta Hyung finalized the script last night. They submitted it today but- that’s not the problem.” He replied eyeing Mark.

“Is the budget not enough?” Even as he asked this Taeyong knew that could it be the case. Mark had shot his third feature film on a shoestring budget. ‘Kimchi Ramyun’ had still managed to make it to international film festivals. Money was not a restraining factor for him.

“Oh no, they’ve given me carte blanche for the costumes.” Hyuck couldn’t very well mask his excitement, “I’m sure if they have hired me while being fully aware of my reputation for splurging on the best of fabrics, they’re not gonna bind Mark.”

Mark’s spoon finally clattered into the now-empty bowl. Taeyong had known for a few days that something was bothering his dongsaeng. And that the boy was loathe to divulge it. Now, it felt like he was done sulking.

“Everything with the executives and crew is fine Hyung. It’s the cast.” He began.

“I thought you said the company was still in talks with a few actors?”

“Yeah but. Nobody wants to work with us.” Mark replied dejectedly.

“What? Why?” Taeyong looked from a pouty Mark to tired Hyuck.

“You’re being way too dramatic Mark. Hyung, it isn’t too serious, just that the two top choices for the lead role has already rejected the offer. So the casting is taking longer than expected.”

“Well it’s their loss, this project has the potential to boost anyone’s career to global stardom.”

“No Hyung” Mark argued, " You don’t know who it was. We approached Kim Taehyung! He already has a loyal fanbase, and the producers believe casting him would’ve guaranteed a successful run in Korea."

“Him rejecting the drama puts it in a bad light. His fans were the ones who were hyping it up on sns, but now they are claiming it’s going to be -and I quote- ‘the lamest thing ever’” Hyuck added.

“Why did he reject it though! It’s a good character.” Taeyong wondered aloud.

“I know right! But his previous drama which wrapped up last month was also a historical and he said he didn’t feel like playing a prince again so soon.” Mark informed.

“Oh, understandable.” Taeyong agreed. “But that’s not a big deal, there are a lot of popular young actors. How about Kim Jongin?”

“Yeah… He was actually my first choice for the Prince, but he’ll be enlisting soon so, it didn’t work out.” Mark became progressively sadder as the discussion went on.

“It’s so sad. Two of the most good looking men in the industry right now and we could get neither.” Hyuck said laying his head down on his folded arms.

“You’ll find someone else easily. The industry is full of princely visuals.” Taeyong tried to comfort.

“It’s not just the visuals Hyung. We need someone fluent in English. The drama will be shot in both English and Hangul simultaneously. That severely limits our choices.” Mark explained.

That was indeed a problem, Taehyung and Jongin were both brand ambassadors for international luxury brands. Hence, their spoken English was better than most of their peers.

“Yeah, if only we could find a young guy, good looking enough to be a Prince, has a dependable fanbase and who’s also fluent in English…” Donghyuck mused, eyes straying to Taeyong.

"It’s honestly a shame, I never thought that the role of the Snow Prince could be rejected by any actor " Taeyong kept talking while collecting the bowls from the table and depositing them in the sink.  
Unaware of Donghyuck’s keen gaze on him.

“I really liked the strength of character and the resilience the Prince displayed. And his gentleness, even after suffering so much, is admirable.” He continued while putting away the leftover stew in the fridge.

While Donghyuck elbowed a nodding Mark in the stomach and sharply pointed towards Taeyong with his head. Mark, in turn, scrunched up his face, not understanding. Donghyuck went on to make the gesture of a crown while pointing at Taeyong whose back was turned to them.

Mark’s eyes finally widened in understanding as Taeyong said, “I think any actor would be honoured to have the opportunity to portray such a role.”

“I agree, I strongly agree with you Hyung,” Mark said with too much enthusiasm.

“Hyung…” Donghyuck started in a sugary tone that would’ve put Mark on his guard had it been directed towards him.

“You are pretty good at speaking English yourself.”

Taeyong, ever so self depreciative, said “Oh it’s mostly because of Mark. Plus spending so much time in LA helps.” Not grasping the underlying implication of Donghyuck’s statement.

“Yeah, you have quite a fan following there too, right?”

“Hmm.”

Mark was watching this exchange with some trepidation. Eyes moving from his best friend to his Hyung. It was not like the idea hadn’t occurred to him, but Donghyuck verbalising it made it look more credible. Weird as that sounds.

“And you have like 20 fansites.” Donghyuck exclaimed, “Those visuals have the nation whipped.”

“Thank you Hyuck.” Taeyong chuckled, wiping the kitchen counter clean.  
“Though I can’t imagine what those people see.”

“It’s your duality I think” Donghyuck reasoned, making Taeyong quirk a brow.

“Yeah,” Mark said looking at Donghyuck, " Hyung’s intimidating on stage, but he’s super soft with his fans. Especially the younger kids like those on High School Rapper."

“Taeyong Hyung is like snow, cold and beautiful. But also melts when you touch it”

Taeyong was politely bewildered by this poetry directed at him. By his younger brother’s best friend no less. At this point, Mark wasn’t sure if he’s s Hyung really was oblivious to their intentions or he was just acting to get out of this sticky situation. Acting, pfft.

Taeyong in his part was done with cleaning up the kitchen and ready to go to bed. He’d had a long day and was looking forward to doing nothing after wrapping up his first tour.

Just as he was about to politely excuse himself, Donghyuck clapped his hands and pointed at him.

“You know Hyung, that’s exactly the kind of person we need to play The Snow Prince.”

That gave him a pause and smiled turning towards his brother. But that smile froze when he saw the hope in Mark’s eyes. Mark’s hands were clenched tightly together, teeth nervously working in his lower lip. He looked 14 again, telling Taeyong that he wanted to get a good camera and he wanted Taeyong to go with him.

Seeing the stars in his eyes at the store had made Taeyong realize that his brother’s dreams were now too big to be contained within their old camera. And when Mark came to him to show the final product of all his efforts, told him he was the first person to watch his film, Taeyong knew that Mark wanted Taeyong to be with him in every step of his life. His baby brother needed him to stand by his side always.

It was the same for Taeyong, he had always performed the rap he had written in front of Mark first, before showing it to anyone else. Even his best friend Yuta. That also kept all kinds of profanities out of his songs at the beginning of his career. And then it just became his thing, writing rap to encourage and uplift people.

Bottom line was, Mark and Taeyong always stood together and ventured together in whatever they did. Mark went along on tour with him and Taeyong composed background scores for his movies. The brothers were inseparable.

“So… Hyung I was wondering like, like it suddenly occurred to me like, what if… You would uh like, ya know-”

“He wants to say that you’d completely slay it as the Snow Prince.” Hyuck cut his rambling.

“I’m a rapper Hyuck, I don’t think the producers would care for it.”

“Actually, I feel like you’d fit the bill perfectly. Netflix is known to pick up newcomers, they might prefer the freshness you bring to the cast.” Donghyuck always had a comeback that could turn the conversation into his favour.

“Hyung, I honestly believe you will be a great pick. You’ve already read the story, heck you were part of the whole process, right from the beginning, when Yuta Hyung started working on it. And I know how passionate you are about anything you take up. I’ll feel like this character would be in safe hands if you take it up.” Mark said the last part firmly, with a lot of emotion.

Taeyong looked out of the windows, at the Seoul skyline. Acting did sound cool and it wasn’t like he had no idea of how to perform a script in the front of a camera. Plus Mark was right, he had seen Yuta translate the whole thing to English and work on the script in two languages, -neither of which was his mother tongue- along with Mark for a whole year. Had seen the character of the Prince become a fleshed-out person from just a name. Sometimes giving his own inputs to them.

So it’ll be a lie to say that he wasn’t attached to the character and didn’t care about the project.

Also, if Taeyong could wake up at 3 in the morning to accompany a 10-year-old Mark to the bathroom because he was too scared after listening to Yuta’s stories about a ghost hanging from the bathroom’s ceiling - he could definitely do a drama that was Mark’s work in the making.

Before Donghyuck lost what little patience he had and Mark gave up on his lips and started chewing his nails. Taeyong turned back to face them and declared,

“Okay cool.”

“Huh?”

“Cool? Means you’ll do it?” Donghyuck wanted confirmation.

"Yeah, I’ll do it. It will be an honour to work with you Mark Lee " he replied shaking hands with a stunned and then blissfully relieved Mark, who let go of his hand only to pull his Hyung into a hug.

~•~•~•~

Doyoung had been waiting for Jaehyun to turn up for about 20 minutes now. It was a lazy afternoon at ‘Ten Dumplings’, so the Chef, and his former roommate, Kun had come out of the kitchen to chat with him. Ten joined them after a while with coffee for everyone.

“Wow, you two really were perfect for each other. As roommates!” Ten laughed over an anecdote shared with him for the first time.

“Yeah, can’t believe Kun left me to live with you of all people.”

“Well well well, what can I say, it’s not easy to resist this ass.” Ten winked at Kun who promptly choked on his latte.

“What ass?” Doyoung deadpanned.

Hendery, one of the servers at the restaurant, gave them a weird look on his way out, telling Kun he’d be back after lunch.

“Okay that’s enough, Doyoung, what’s this poem you were talking about?”

“Oh please don’t say its a love poem, Kun just got over that drama, what was it? Chen Qing Ling? I don’t need him quoting cheesy poetry again.” ten stopped him, raising both his hands.

“But I thought you liked them? You always smile when I said a line from the drama.” a slightly hurt Kun asked.

“I don’t like the dialogues dummy, I just like you.”

This made Kun smile and reach out to hold his boyfriend's hand.

“Seriously? Right in front of my coffee? And you call Kun the cheesy one?” Doyoung said with a thoroughly disgusted face.

“But sadly Ten it is indeed a romantic story, it was written by a scholar travelling to Joseon from Japan.” Doyoung began, “It feels half like a historical account and half like a folk tale. It’s not exactly a poem though, more like a song.”

“I see you guys started without me.” Jaehyun snidely complained as he settled into a chair beside Doyoung.

“Yah! Where have you been, I’ve been waiting for you for like, half an hour.”

“Sorry Hyung, something came up,” he replied, not looking sorry at all.

“Brat.”

“Hag”

“Yah! I’m hardly a year older than-”

“Gaaaaays…” Ten tried to put a stop to this bickering.

“What” barked the two toddlers trapped in the bodies of grown-ass men.

“Doyoung can you like get on with that story or song whatever it was, so you can wrap it up before Kun and I have to go back to the kitchen.”

Doyoung cleared his throat. Then began.

“As I told before, the song was written by a Japenese scholar visiting the court of King Taejong. It apparently tells the story of one of the Prince’s life. But I don’t believe that’s the case.”

“Why?” Ten piped up.

“There’s no Prince with that name.”

“Okay, so it’s just a made-up story, what next Hyung?” Jaehyun, ever so impatient urged him to continue, “What about his life?”

“The tragedy of it. The poor boy led a very short and tragic life.”

That piqued Jaehyun’s interest, tragic endings -however rare- weren’t unheard of in Historical dramas. Jaehyun was only ever offered sappy rom-coms , could it be that his agency had managed to bag an actually challenging role for him?

“Tragic? Why so?”

“The writer says he was the son of a concubine, who had died giving birth to him. The King always blamed him for the death of his favourite concubine, though he was admired by the general people. On top of that his older brother, the Crown Prince resented him for being the nation’s darling. Living in the palace without his mother and the current as well as the future King cursing his very existence…” Doyoung made a pained face, like he had just sucked on a lemon.

“Okay that sounds like it came straight out of a drama, Doyoung you sure its actually an old song and not some drama you were binge-watching last night.” Ten interrupted.

“Hush, let him talk. Don’t mind him Doie, you go on.” Kun shushed his boyfriend.

“Make it quick though, we don’t have time left for your grand storytelling.” Ten insisted.

“Okaaay. As I was saying as if this Prince’s life wasn’t hell already, countless misfortunes kept falling on him.”

That statement made Kun pout even more and Ten sighs, while Jaehyun was listening with rapt attention. Feeling light-headed for some reason.

“First he was held hostage by rebels,” Doyoung counted off on his fingers, “Then his brother exiled him as soon as he became the king.”

“Sounds like the Prince really had very bad luck.” Ten commented. Kun shushed him again.

“There’s more, but in the end, he was killed by his own bodyguard.” Doyoung gave an anticipatory pause.

“Ouch,” Ten said lifting a hand to his heart in faux hurt.

“That’s it? That’s all the song is about?” Jaehyun asks, unsatisfied by this abrupt ending. There was a feeling in his gut that something was missing from this tale, something very important-

Doyoung leaned forward like a spider about to strike the fly -in this case flies- trapped in his web, and darkly concluded,

“Killed by the bodyguard he was in love with.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just an introduction to some of our main characters in the story. I just wanted this story out here to just make it exist, so it'll be easier for me to finish it. How do you like it? What do you think will happen next? What do you think is going on??? Please feel free to muse over all these questions and more in the comments or my DMs on Twitter where I can be found as @Drea_is_Dreamin .
> 
> All kudos and comments are much appreciated.


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